PRESIDENT OBAMA CALLS AMERICA'S TOP EARNERS SOCIETY’S LOTTERY WINNERS

Rich Karlgaard: If he said everything he said and left out the word lottery he would have sounded like Pope Francis. It would have been a good liberal pitch for successful people to pitch in. But the use of the word lottery is really revealing of his mindset that success in this country and the success of the US is some artifact of luck. It’s a very poisonous thing.

Bruce Japsen: We need him to elaborate; I think he was talking about hedge fund managers who pay a low tax rate. If you think about it, a lottery prize after taxes is $600,000 and if you’re born into a situation where you have no hope and you’re facing bills you almost need a lottery for some people in poverty to get out of their cycle.

Carrie Sheffield: Our top companies are started by immigrants or children of immigrants. If you’re rich, your children aren’t going to be as rich as you are. It is family community and values and hard work. All of the social science backs this up. No amount of liberal warm thoughts or feelings is going to account for change.

Steve Forbes: What the President doesn’t get is the connection between a higher standard of living and entrepreneurs and others making investments to make products and services that enable all of us to have a higher standard of living. He says we should invest more- well get a better tax code, monetary policy and healthcare policy and you will see that investment enable people to move up the latter of success.

John Tamny: The President is confused, what he misunderstands is that people get rich in this country by virtue of taking that of which only the rich can enjoy and making it available for everyone. If we get rid of society achievers life for those not rich would be marked by unrelenting cruelty.

Elizabeth MacDonald: You look at all of his speeches and what they will not talk about is how to end the cycle of dependence on government. They won’t talk about waste, fraud and abuse. How do you end it?

NEW DEVELOPMENTS SPARKING CONCERNS OVER IRAN NUCLEAR TALKS

Steve Forbes: These aren’t negotiations. We have a president who is begging the Iranians to give him the fig leaf so he can say we have a deal.

Bruce Japsen: I think at this point we have come too far in this. Now it’s costing us more money, we have let this drag on and the Saudis and Arab countries are going back knowing we are going to spend more money to defend them.

Elizabeth MacDonald: Intelligence officials have said this deal is weak. What do they need intercontinental missiles for?

John Tamny: We shouldn’t negotiate or have sanctions. When are we going to learn the lesson that we elevate irrelevant regimes around the world when we do this. It’s a huge mistake, ignore these guys.

Rich Karlgaard: Nuclear weapons or the process of getting them suddenly turns irrelevancy into relevancy. In terms of should we negotiate- we should stop. They have a history of supporting terror.

Carrie Sheffield: Stop the talks and keep the sanctions. Iran has not unclenched its fist, it funds Hezbollah and terrorists, and they have done nothing to earn our trust.

FORBES FLIPSIDE

John Tamny: This is great news. Very little we learn in college has any reference to the outside world it’s always been a credential. Hopefully this is a strong side that employers will understand you don’t need a college degree to get by in the real world.

Bruce Japsen: One of the places I don’t like to see this is at the community college level- we need these people to take care of aging population at a low cost setting. And if fewer people are going to college we need them.

Rich Karlgaard: I think there are far too many jobs out there that require a credential that doesn’t make up for the fact that you need job experience. The kids are going out and trying to put their foot in the job market is a good sign.

Steve Forbes: This shows the flexibility of the American people. You take a job, and if you need more experience you go back to school. You do it as you go, no one size fits all.

Carrie Sheffield: Anytime people are earning income instead of saddling themselves with degrees that don’t matter I say kudos.

'FREE MONEY' STOCKS

Elizabeth Macdonald: Fidelity Select Biotechnology

John Tamny: Yahoo